It's been one year since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. CGTN's Gao Ang talked to Zhang Ming, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization about its role in helping the region's reconstruction and development.
ZHANG MING Secretary-General Shanghai Cooperation Organization "In the past year, many SCO member states have provided various kinds of support and assistance to the Afghan people by helping them survive the winter, solve food security problems, and help reconstruction efforts. There are also some countries that have begun to promote cooperation in fields such as interconnected transportation and others with Afghanistan. I think these efforts will be beneficial to the goal of making Afghanistan a constructive factor in the region."
GAO ANG CGTN Reporter "Afghanistan is one of the four observer countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. What role will the SCO play in achieving peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan?"
ZHANG MING Secretary-General Shanghai Cooperation Organization "Since its establishment, the SCO has attached great importance to properly handling the Afghan issue. It can be said that once the Afghan issue is resolved, the long-term stability of the region can be largely resolved. Therefore, in the past 21 years, the SCO has always paid great attention and attached great importance to the Afghan issue, and made various efforts to mediate and resolve the Afghan issue. And they were fruitful efforts. I think that after 21 years of development, the region has maintained a peaceful, safe and stable situation, which has a lot to do with the existence of the SCO. On the Afghanistan issue, our member states have a consensus, and we look forward to Afghanistan becoming an independent, peaceful, neutral, and democratic country.
"It is very necessary for Afghanistan to establish an inclusive government with the participation of various tribes, religions, and political forces. We also look forward to the establishment of Afghanistan as a peaceful country without terrorism and drugs. In short, the SCO will make our efforts to this end. To turn a country like Afghanistan into a constructive factor for regional peace, security and development, I think this is our goal."